Chosen: Book 2 A Realms of the Otherworld Book

by Jana LaPelle

  Lexie walks up and asks, “Better, Ash?”

  I take her hand in mine and smile, “Yes, much better. Thank you. What do you make of this?”

  “I’m not sure, but there is a certain majical signature here. Do you see a dragon, because I don’t, what are you going to do when we meet this Drayiel?”

  “I have no idea. Reason with him?” I say with a shrug.

  Lexie’s response is to quietly laugh, “Seriously, that’s your plan. Reason with him.”

  Alaric pipes up, “Not such a bad plan all things considered. We have no idea his state of mind.”

  Declan wraps Lexie in his arms as he says, “A, this could go sideways at any time. We have no idea this dragon’s deal. Just be prepared.”

  Myrddin interrupts, “Attention everyone, I need for you all to follow my lead.” He looks at me and says, “Princess, try to stay out of trouble.”

  I can’t help but laugh as I say, “Have you met me?”

  “Yes, and I fear that Drayiel will be drawn to you, and your pension for trouble, not to mention your sparkly complexion among other things.” He says.

  Alaric sighs before saying, “Myrddin, I have no doubt that Drayiel will not only notice her but be drawn to her. Her light shines through like a beacon in the night.”

  “Very true my friend. All right, wish me luck.” Myrddin says with a grimace.

  We make our way toward the waterfall in the back of the cavern. The closer we come to the falls the more uncomfortable I become, I realize that what I thought was rock was actually an enormous dragon as he curls around the entrance behind the falls. As we approach, I sense that the beast is stirring.

  “Lexie, get behind us, Jasmine you too,” I say as the slumbering beast begins to wake.

  Myrddin walks forward and says, “Drayiel, I have come to relieve you of your commission. I know that it is long past overdue, but it is good to see you, old friend.”

  The dragon shakes his head as he struggles to bring clarity to his hibernating brain. He shakes his head again and says in a huge booming voice, “Myrddin, you lying bastard! You left me here to rot! Your commission was for but one hundred years. I have been left here for millennia, or longer!”

  Drayiel, in his rage, engages his fire breath and I race forward once I see how this is going to go down, not knowing if Myrddin can deflect his flame. As Drayiel lets lose his fire, I call it to me and form a deflective shield protecting all those I hold dear. As the flames of his breath settle, I say, “That was not very nice, Drayiel!” He turns his attention to me and his brilliant green eyes narrow. I see as his pupils narrow to a vertical slit as he trains his line of vision on me. His dragon hide is blue-green, almost iridescent in hue.

  His deep chuckling laughter resonates around the cavern and sounds anything but happy, and at that moment my skin begins to crawl, he’s angry. “What do we have here, Myrddin? You have remained away all this time only to arrive with the one that would forsake your lover? I know the truth, Myrddin, Nimue came to me yesterday. Her warning was clear. This one that you escort into this sacred place is working with the phantom queen, The Morrígan. She is responsible for the disappearance of Nimue’s sisterhood and from what I see before me, I see that you are now in league with her. You would betray Nimue? Well, I for one will not allow her anywhere near the Stone of Fál.”

  Drayiel’s words echo around the cavern, and we all just stand there in stunned silence. Slack-jawed. I swing my gaze back toward Nimue and see the guilt of her actions written all over her face. Before I can even think, Drayiel is on the move. His large form is bounding straight toward me. I turn and look for Alaric and realize that I’m further away from him than I thought, fear floods my entire being. I swing back to the predator behind me in enough time to look up at the fierce dragon as he wraps his front right claw around my person. His wings beat down, and he leaps into the air. His massive form launches upward before anyone has a chance to think or act. This is not exactly how I saw this meeting going down, as I struggle in his clutches to break free.

  Suddenly, Drayiel clears the opening of the top of the volcano, and the warm breeze hits my face. I look down to see Alaric and Nym, shift as they go after Nimue. Alaric’s roar echo’s up from the bowels of the earth as Drayiel picks up speed he carries me away from my Kindred and my guard. Through our bond I let Alaric know that I’m okay, for now. I just have to figure out a way to talk to this surly dragon, to help him understand Nimue’s deceit.

  (Alaric)

  Everything happens so fast, and there is nothing that we can do as we watch Ashlinn be carried away. I look around for Jasmine, as my eyes find her she says, “I’ll follow her.” And she takes off to follow Drayiel and Ashlinn.

  I watch as she goes after my reason for living before turning my attention toward Nimue. I allow my panther to push forward and Nym and I both shift and stalk toward Ashlinn’s betrayer. She cowers back away from us. My roar of anger reverberates around the cavern before I shift back to pin Nimue against the stone wall as I growl, “What have you done?!”

  Nimue looks from me to Myrddin and back again. “You don’t understand. She took them. All of them, even the children.”

  “Explain.” I can barely contain my rage at this female.

  Nimue shrieks, “She took them all!” Her careful façade has completely fallen away now as she slides against the rock wall to collapse unceremoniously on the ground as she begins to weep.

  “Why didn’t you come to us?” I yell back at her. “We could have helped you! Instead, you enrage a dragon against my mate! What have you done? Where is he taking her?”

  Between sobs, she says, “To The Morrígan.”

  “Do you know what you have done? You have just signed Ashlinn’s death warrant, along with the twins that she carries. If she dies, then all the Realms will fall. The Tree of Life will fail to thrive. It will not matter that your sisterhood will be returned to you at that point.”

  “Why Nimue? Why would you not come to me? Together we could have…” Myrddin trails off.

  Nimue interrupts him, “We could have what? Stopped what was happening together? I didn’t even realize that there was a traitor amongst our midst. She came to me and told me that she needed to go on a spiritual quest and that she would be back soon. When she came back, she arrived with an exotic drink that she had my sisters partake of. It didn’t take long for them to become addicted to the elixir. She promised my sisters that if they followed her back to The Morrígan that they would have access to this cursed concoction. At first, my sisters rebelled, but within a matter of hours, they gave into their addiction. Nothing I tried would help their condition. They gathered their little ones and left the island to go to The Morrígan. The traitor told me that if I delivered The Champion of The Tree of Life to her queen, then my sisters would be released. They would receive The Morrígan’s blessing and would be pardoned from the curse. I had no choice!” She concludes.

  “Nimue, we always have a choice. You could have come to me. Together we could have found a way, any other way, then misleading an elder dragon. He is a Guardian and will not be deceived for long. Once he understands that you have manipulated him, he will be furious. Not to mention, that you have an entire guard here that want you dead. Ashlinn is the glue that binds them together. Come, we must fix the wrong that you have done here this day.” Myrddin concludes.

  “How pray tell, do you intend to fix this wrong,” I demand.

  “First, we must attain the Stone of Fál, and then we go after Ashlinn. We can track her and Drayiel. He will give into his curiosity and stop long before he gets to The Morrígan. Come we must hurry.” Myrddin says, pulling me in his direction toward the fallen king’s tomb.

  Before we get even a few steps, Jasmine is back. “Alaric, I could not keep up with the dragon’s pace. He was too fast for me. I’m sorry. I…” She is at a loss for words, and I understand that she is choked with regret and fear for Ashlinn.

  “It’s okay Jasmine. We’ll fi
nd her.” I try to reassure her, and the only thing that I have to go on is that I can feel that she is currently safe, if not frustrated by the turn of events. “Let’s do this. Myrddin, I will retrieve the Stone of Fál, you will remain with us for as long as it takes to recover Ashlinn. Once she has been brought home to her family then and only then will we place the crown on Tarron’s head, as per her prophecy, she will appoint The Horde King to his throne. Let’s do this and move out! We have to find her. Myrddin is right, she is the glue that binds us all together.”

  Chapter 29

  (Ashlinn)

  “Hello, up there. Listen. I know that you are angry, but I believe that there has been a terrible misunderstanding. Can you please stop for just a few minutes so we can talk? Seriously? Is this really necessary? Alaric is going to be seriously pissed, Drayiel, please. I promise you, things are not what you have been led to believe.” I shout up to my abductor.

  The dragon’s voice is loud and imposing as he responds, “Not what they appear to be? Aye? You betrayed Nimue and her sisterhood. Her people have been put in harm’s way because of your actions.”

  “No Dray, things are not as you have been led to believe. I believe you to be fiercely loyal and an honorable dragon. Please let’s talk. One on one.” I plead. “I promise to be entirely honest with you about everything.”

  I sense as soon as his determination falters and he slows his pace before saying, “Okay, you have five minutes to convince me otherwise of your innocence.” The large dragon scans the land below us and finds a suitable landing spot as he begins to hover, and then we drop to a large rock formation that is ideally suited for a dragon. There is a shallow cave that sits back into the side of the rocky mountain and a ledge that he gracefully lands on that more than accommodates his size. The only way to get to the ledge is to scale the mountain side or to fly. I look around and quickly realize that we are a long way from where we started. I can’t even see the volcano on the horizon as Drayiel puts me down. For a moment I feel dizzy and stumble. The dragon lends his support to steady me, and I sense him carefully assessing me. “You are with child.” He states in his deep rumbling voice, “I had not taken notice of that before.”

  “Yes.” I agree as I find a ledge of rocks that make for a perfect seat and drop myself down with a heavy sigh. I look up to see him studying me, and I take a few moments to look him over as well. He is regal in appearance with a graceful curve to his neck as he stands before me on all four legs. He stretches his wings before pulling them in close to his body and then, dropping down into a sitting position, wraps his tail around him. Not sure how to begin, so I say the first thing that comes to mind, “I’ve never seen a dragon before. You really are quite beautiful. Don’t get me wrong, you are also fierce and just a little scary. You gave me quite the fright.”

  Drayiel begins to chuckle, and a snort escapes his snout, trailed by a smoky tendril, reminding me of his fire breath, before he says, “My dear child, how old are you?”

  Exasperated, I question, “Why does everyone refer to me as a child? In the beginning, I was new to this world, and in a short period of time, I have come to understand that there is much that I do not know. But obviously, I’m not a child. I’m old enough to become a mother, damn it. Although, that was not the original plan but the Tree of Life and destiny had other plans for me.” I retort.

  Dray just cocks his head and assesses me for a moment before saying, “You are unhappy with your impending motherhood?”

  I consider his question and decide to err on the side of honesty and sigh, “I have lived all of eighteen years. So as far as you are concerned, I concede, I am a child. I get that because you are an ancient, Dray. I just have this feeling that I’m about to embrace my destiny and its just out of reach. I love these two babes I carry, with all my heart and soul. Did I intend on becoming a mother at my age? No. I thought that we would wait until I was a bit older but at this point, I realize that it’s not about my wants and needs. It’s all about the wants and needs of The Realms. Right now The Realms need for me to bolster the Tree of Life and I have no idea how I’m going to accomplish that task. All I know is that it is what I am meant to do. Hell, three months ago, Alaric was this intensely good looking guy in my dreams, and I had no idea as to who I really was and what I was meant to become. Now, I can’t imagine my life without my kindred or any of those that have become so dear to me in such a short period of time. My destiny, the destiny of my kindred, my guard, and my children are all intermingled, and we are meant to save the Tree of Life and in doing so the cycle of life. I feel this deep within my soul.” I lean back as I conclude and watch Drayiel’s reaction to my words.

  “If what you are telling me is true then that would mean that Nimue lied to me. You do not appear to be the sort of person that would deceive Nimue and her sisterhood. She said that you were working with The Morrígan.”

  “Is that what she told you? Did she happen to inform you of the reason for Myrddin’s delay? I assure you, Dray, I’m not working with that dark queen and her sisters. Is that where you meant to take me? To The Morrígan? I beg of you to reconsider, I oppose her and her plan to overthrow the leadership of the Otherworld and take over The Realms. If you take me to the dark queen, you might as well sentence me to death. She wants my head on a silver platter. Please, tell me what happened to Nimue’s sisterhood. I knew something was amiss when she showed us to our rooms at the castle. It just seemed so quiet and devoid of the presence of others.” I implore.

  Drayiel takes a moment to make his decision and then speaks, “Her sisters were poisoned with a brew that The Morrígan concocted. It is a curse that must be eradicated. I was lead to believe that you were the one to lead the sisterhood away from Avalon. Now that I have opened my eyes, I see that my friendship with the Lady of the Lake clouded my judgment. I can see the light that shines through you, it makes me want to keep you. We dragons like shiny things, but I digress, you are indeed whom you say you are. You are the Chosen One of legend. I apologize for my behavior before. What do you know of the reason for Myrddin’s century’s long delay?”

  I smile and say, “There is no need to apologize. You were influenced by one that was influenced under duress. I’m sure that Nimue is beside herself and I really can’t blame her. I knew something was wrong. I just could not place what it was. As for Myrddin, before King Arthur’s passing, Nimue and Myrddin had a disagreement and she imprisoned him in an oak tree here in Avalon. He was only released this very morning so that we could come in search of the Stone of Fál. That is why he has been delayed all this time.”

  Drayiel sits for a time allowing my words to sink in and studying me before a heavy sigh issues forth from his mouth, “What is your name, child?”

  “Why Dray, are you trying to get to know me better?” I ask jokingly and see that he’s not really following my joking banter. I sigh heavily before continuing, “If you want my full name and lineage then here goes, but this in no way, shape, or form covers my upbringing. I am High Princess to The Otherworld, daughter to Danu and Rhespen Eroan Pan-tarr, alpha to all shifters in the Otherworld. I am Ashlinn Ryllae Elan Faerondarl, kindred to Prince Alaric Rhys Faerondarl. I am also known as the Chosen Champion to the Tree of Life.” I conclude and watch Drayiel’s reaction to my declaration.

  The dragon before me inclines his head, “It is an honor to meet you High Princess Ashlinn. Please forgive my actions from before. Why do you suppose that Nimue would deceive me so?”

  “I believe that promises were made that her people would be returned if she had me delivered to The Morrígan. It is my understanding that The Morrígan and her sisters have evoked the power of three and she is unable to travel away from the Otherworld. She and her sisters have cursed the Tree of Life and are siphoning her energy away from her. I can’t blame the Lady of the Lake. She was probably desperate to have her people returned to Avalon. I have seen The Morrígan’s curse, and it is not pretty. I agree that the accursed elixir needs to be eradicated.”
I say as I consider what she must be going through. I take a moment to reach out through my bond to Alaric to let him know that I’m okay. “Hey Elf-Man, I know you are probably freaking out, but Dray has calmed down, and we’re talking. Please don’t go all caveman on Nimue, I believe that her actions have been driven by desperation. Before you leave the cavern, make sure to acquire the Stone of Fál. We will need it and now is the perfect time to snag it. Love you, Elf-Man.”I can feel his pissed off frustration coming through in our link and smile. He’ll get over this as long as we can connect. I turn my concentration back to Drayiel.

  “There is a legend amongst my people, and I believe that you should hear this tale. Princess, you look uncomfortable, is there anything I can do to help?” The large dragon asks as I wiggle and squirm on my uncomfortable seat.

  I sigh and complain, “My back aches, but I know not how to ease my discomfort at this point other than lying down. Please, Dray, continue I’m curious about this legend of yours.” I say as I get up to walk about the cavern.

  “I like that you shorten my name, no one has ever done that before, it seems fitting somehow. I’m assuming that you know little to nothing about dragons, so I’ll start at the beginning. The Histories tell that dragons are some of the very first creatures blessed by the Creator to walk The Realms. There are many Realms and, once again, I’m assuming that in your education you have been taught about the four main Realms, the Otherworld, the Mortal Realm, the Overworld, and the Underworld. As you can see, Avalon is in a realm all on its own, and although the Tree of Life is very closely connected to the Otherworld, it is also a realm in and of itself. The Drakon reside in yet another realm but have been known to visit from time to time the Mortal Realm and the Otherworld. That is how I came to know Myrddin. I am still very angry with him by the way, but now understand that Nimue has held many secrets. It will be a long time before she will be able to gain my trust again.” He pauses to assess me.